The Gamester (1753) eBook

Stu. Then know, imprudent man, he is
within my gripe; and should my friendship for him
be slandered once again, the hand that has supplied
him, shall fall and crush him.

Lew. Why, now there’s spirit in thee!
This is indeed to be a villain! But I shall reach
thee yet. Fly where thou wilt, my vengeance shall
pursue thee—­and Beverley shall yet be saved,
be saved from thee, thou monster; nor owe his rescue
to his wife’s dishonour.
[Exit.

Stu. (Pausing) Then ruin has enclosed
me. Curse on my coward heart! I would be
bravely villainous; but ’tis my nature to shrink
at danger, and he has found me. Yet fear brings
caution, and That security. More mischief must
be done, to hide the past. Look to yourself,
officious Lewson—­there may be danger stirring—­How
now, Bates?

SCENE V.

Enter BATES.

Bates. What is the matter? ’Twas
Lewson, and not Beverley, that left you. I heard
him loud: you seem alarmed too.

Stu. Ay, and with reason. We are discovered.

Bates. I feared as much, and therefore cautioned
you; but You were peremptory.

Stu. Thus fools talk ever; spending their idle
breath on what is past; and trembling at the future.
We must be active. Beverley, at worst, is but
suspicious; but Lewson’s genius, and his hate
to Me, will lay all open. Means must be found
to stop him.

Bates. What means?

Stu. Dispatch him—­Nay, start not—­Desperate
occasions call for desperate deeds. We live but
by his death.

Bates. You cannot mean it?

Stu. I do, by heaven.

Bates. Good night then.
[Going.

Stu. Stay. I must be heard, then answered.
Perhaps the motion was too sudden; and human nature
starts at murder, though strong necessity compels
it. I have thought long of this; and my first
feelings were like yours; a foolish conscience awed
me, which soon I conquered. The man that would
undo me, nature cries out, undo. Brutes know
their foes by instinct; and where superior force is
given, they use it for destruction. Shall man
do less? Lewson pursues us to our ruin; and shall
we, with the means to crush him, fly from our hunter,
or turn and tear him? ’Tis folly even to
hesitate.

Bates. He has obliged me, and I dare not.

Stu. Why, live to shame then, to beggary and
punishment. You would be privy to the deed, yet
want the soul to act it. Nay more; had my designs
been levelled at his fortune, you had stept in the
foremost. And what is life without its comforts?
Those you would rob him of; and by a lingering death,
add cruelty to murder. Henceforth adieu to half-made
villains—­there’s danger in them.
What you have got is your’s; keep it, and hide
with it: I’ll deal my future bounty to
those who merit it.